Jets fire blanks in loss to Steelers

By
Nick Peruffo, The Trentonian

Sunday, October 13, 2013

EAST RUTHERFORD — What a difference six days can make.

Less than a week after rookie quarterback Geno Smith led the Jets to a comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, Smith and Gang Green couldn’t manage a single touchdown in a dispiriting 19-6 loss to the previously winless Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

“We’re striving for consistency, but we’re not quite there yet,” coach Rex Ryan said. “Obviously, we have to get there in a hurry.”

Smith — who was electric against the Falcons — looked more like the quarterback that struggled through losses to New England and Tennessee. He completed just 19 of 34 passes for 201 yards, including two costly interceptions that spoiled what were perhaps the team’s best two scoring chances.

The first of Smith’s picks came with the Jets down 16-6 early in the third quarter, with the ball on Pittsburgh’s 23-yard line. Smith said he was trying to throw the ball over the head of fullback Konrad Reuland who was triple-covered deep down the right sideline, but Steelers safety Ryan Clark made the play.

“The guy I least expected to get over there got over there and made the play,” Smith said. “That’s not to make an excuse. It can’t happen.”

The second interception came late in the fourth quarter with the ball even deeper in Steelers territory. Smith was looking for Stephen Hill, but was hit by Jarvis Jones as he threw and the ball wound up in the hands of Pittsburgh’s Lawrence Timmons. That play effectively ended any chance for a comeback.

“He’s going to try to make the throw he thinks is there,” Ryan said. “Obviously, hindsight being 20-20, you’d like to see him throw it away.”

The only Jets scores came on a pair of Nick Folk field goals. The first kick was made from the Pittsburgh 7-yard line when the Jets elected not to try for the end zone on fourth-and-1.

“I’m thinking there, lets just take the lead,” Ryan said. “It was kind of windy out there and our defense was playing well, so lets just get on the scoreboard.”

The closest the Jets came to a big play was in the second quarter, when Hill badly beat a pair of Steelers defenders deep down the middle of the field. Smith, however, threw the pass just over Hill’s outstretched arms.

“I wish I could have dove just a little bit more, maybe got it on the finger tips,” Hill said.

The lack of offensive execution was particularly frustrating considering how well the defense played in the first half, limiting the Steelers to just three Shaun Suisham field goals. Pittsburgh didn’t find the end zone until the third quarter, when Emmanuel Sanders beat Antonio Cromartie deep on a play-action pass for a 55-yard score.

“I stayed square too long and he went underneath me,” said Cromartie, dismissing the suggestion that the hyperextended knee that kept him out of practice Friday affected him.

If there was a silver lining for the 3-3 Jets, it was that the Steelers — coming off a bye — had two full weeks to prepare. That won’t be the case next week, when they’ll travel to New England to take on their archrival Patriots, who beat them 13-10 back in week 2.

“I look forward to it,” Smith said. “To go up there and have another opportunity to prove myself, to go out there with my teammates and try to get a victory. It’s one we really need, especially with our record right now.”

NOTES: Three Jets players left the game with injuries and did not return: receiver Clyde Gates (shoulder), running back Mike Goodson (knee) and cornerback Kyle Wilson (head). Ryan said he was unsure the extent of the injuries immediately after the game. Powell briefly left the game with an apparent shoulder injury but later returned, and confirmed after the game that he was healthy.